One of the things that has become clear as we move forward in this pandemic is that healthcare workers have special problems and require additional protection.
Unfortunately, nursing homes have been very hard hit with both the people working there and the people living there getting sick and dying in higher numbers than in other work and living situations.
Right now there is some controversy as to how those workers are being protected.
One of the links I have provided documents the Administration’s response to increased regulation designed to protect healthcare workers. The current administration killed rules that would have helped save lives. https://www.npr.org/2020/05/26/862018484/trump-team-killed-rule-designed-to-protect-health-workers-from-pandemic-like-cov
The other link is OSHA defending their current actions. OSHA argues that they had all the tools they needed, but they do not explain why they did not act more quickly, and why so many healthcare workers ended up getting sick and dying. https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/npr/npr-story/864319194
Business people complain, frequently, about regulations that make it harder for them to function in the marketplace. Some regulations undoubtedly make it more expensive to do business, but it is difficult to trade off that expense against loss of life.
Just as we see automobiles progressing, we should see the same progress in business. When I was a child, most cars did not have seatbelts. Seatbelts were ultimately mandated, but most of them were lap belts only. We have now progressed to combined lap and shoulder seatbelts and airbags, all of which make the car somewhat more expensive, but also make it much more likely that should you be involved in a motor vehicle accident, you can walk away from it.
Workers are people and they deserve to be taken care of.
One of my political heroes was State Senator Grattan Kerans and he used to talk about a political union activist (whose name I cannot remember) who always said, “We go to work to earn a living, we don’t go to work to die.” I do not know anyone who goes to work expecting to die and some reasonable government regulations designed to protect working people seem a small price to pay.
